And what about the Manual Tranny? Any good? or should we just opt for the 8AT ?

I didn't get to drive the luxury line model vs sport line model on the track unfortunately. I only had time in the sport line models and it was a blast.

Keep up? Sure, it can probably be close, but given the same driver skill in both cars, the Sport Line with its sports suspension will no doubt handle better and shift faster if it's equipped with the faster shifting Sport Auto Transmission w/ Paddle Shifters (2TB) (assuming both cars have auto transmission).